Snickers
by writerchic16
Summary: Halloween episode continuation, two-shot. While Justin and Alex sort through leftover candy, they remember the Halloween they spent together when they were kids.
1. Part I

Snickers

Summary: Halloween episode continuation. While Justin and Alex sort through leftover candy, they remember the Halloween they spent together when they were kids.

Edit: Decided to cut this in half and make it a two-shot for easier reading. Also changed the title - the original was actually a working title because I couldn't think of anything better.

_

* * *

__Halloween 2009_

After their haunted house was a bust, Alex and Justin sat opposite each other at a table in the restaurant, a bowl of candy between them. They were waiting for Harper to get back with some scary movies from home, where she'd also gone to get changed out of her costume and drop off her new-found jewelery from the graves. Max had decided to catch up with some of his friends who were trick-or-treating, and their parents were upstairs watching whatever horror movies were on TV until Harper got back and the teens took over the living room.

For the time being, the siblings had confiscated the candy that their mother bought for the trick-or-treaters that would probably never come, and looking for their favorites. "Oh, that Blow Pop is mine!" Alex said, then snatched the candy from the bucket.

"Like I would even touch it. You know I like the chocolate ones," Justin retorted, then triumphantly held up a Reese's peanut butter cup. He glanced down again. "There's a packet of Sour Worms over there, by the way."

Alex had spotted it before he even brought it up. "I got it," she assured him, then grabbed that one for her pile. Each of the siblings had a pile of candy next to them on the table, which grew as the amount of candy in the decorative orange bucket dwindled.

While Alex took over the candy hunting for the moment, Justin leaned back on his chair and looked around at the still-decorated sub shop. "This Halloween was so lame," he said with a sigh.

"No more lame than it usually is," Alex quickly retorted. "And at least this year we scared the pants off some trick-or-treaters."

Justin rolled his eyes. "Who are probably scarred for life, thanks to Mantooth. What were you thinking bringing him back here?"

"I was thinking that I was told to bring back some scary ghosts. How was I supposed to know how wimpy this neighborhood was?" Alex said with a shrug.

Irritated, Justin crossed his arms. "I still don't get why we couldn't do my moral skit this year. It's a tradition! With all the sugar-filled candy and mindless horror movies, kids should have _something_ good in their Halloween."

"Only you would try to turn Halloween into an educational experience," Alex said. She was hardly listening to her brother as she scoured the candy bowl, her hopes high for some good sour candy, or more lollipops so she would be stocked for a while.

However, Justin wasn't about to let this go. "No, Alex, this isn't fair. Between the haunted house and Mantooth, you ruined my Halloween. And it's not the first time."

"Please, when did I ever ruin your Halloween...before tonight?" Alex replied, not sure which one he was referencing."You've been ruining _my_ Halloween for years with your stupid skits."

Justin shook his head. "This was before we started the skits. I was talking about that one Halloween, you were ten, and I'd just turned twelve..."

"Oh yeah," Alex said as the memory came back. "That was the first Halloween you had your powers."

_

* * *

__Halloween 2003_

In her room, Alex fixed her hat and made sure her costume looked good. She'd just come home from school, and she wanted to get to Harper's apartment building as soon as she could to start trick-or-treating. This year, she was determined to get more candy than she'd ever gotten before. Hopefully most of that candy would be lollipops and sour candies, because she hated it when Justin went into her bag to take the chocolate ones. Oh, sure, he only did it because she knew she didn't like them, but still - hands off _her_ candy.

Her costume to her liking, she got her trick-or-treat bag, which had a picture of a spooky haunted house on the front, and went downstairs to the loft's living area. She stopped at about halfway down, then cleared her throat for dramatic effect. "Look at my costume, everybody! Isn't it cool?"

Despite her mother's repeated offers to help with her costume, Alex had refused because she wanted to keep it a secret. Of course, at ten-years-old that wasn't the easiest task. She'd had to beg Harper's mom to take her to the store to buy most of her costume.

She grinned when her parents' jaws dropped, and Justin - who was already dressed in his costume for the Halloween party at his school - jumped out of his seat. That was the reaction she was going for.

"Mom, Dad!" Justin exclaimed. "Alex is wearing that just to make fun of me! Make her change!"

And so she was. She'd bought a long, sparkly, purple wizard's robe and hat for her costume. While she'd really wanted to steal Justin's wand to complete the look, even she knew that was crossing the line, so she'd bought one at the store. However, she'd been disappointed to note that the fake, plastic one currently in her hand didn't even compare to the real version.

Ever since Justin got his powers, Alex had been insanely jealous he had magic and she didn't, though of course she would never admit it to anyone. It wasn't fair that he got to use magic first just because he was older. Sure, she could do little things, but it was nothing compared to the spells Justin had been allowed to try lately.

That was what inspired her. All she wanted was to be a real wizard like Justin. So, at least for one day, she was.

While Justin was predictably annoyed, her parents were actually a little amused. Her mother was trying hard not to laugh, Alex could tell.

"Now, Justin," Jerry replied. "I'm sure this has nothing to do with you. Alex is just...showing pride in her wizard heritage...right?"

To hide her true reason for the costume, Alex nodded. "Yeah, Daddy. Everyone is always a witch or a vampire or a mummy. No one's ever a wizard, so I figured, who better to play one for Halloween than a real wizard like me?"

Worried, seven-year-old Max ran to his father. "But Dad, won't everyone know we're wizards now? You and Mom always say we're not supposed to tell anyone."

Jerry laughed. "No, son. It's Halloween. Everyone will just think Alex is dressing up as a wizard."

"Well, I think it's very cute...and funny," Theresa couldn't help but say. She began laughing again, but at least tried to stop when Jerry raised an eyebrow at her. "What?" she argued. "Come on, Jerry, a real wizard dressing up as one for Halloween?"

"Alright, it's a little funny," Jerry admitted, then smiled.

Still angry, Justin exclaimed, "No it's not! Dad, as a real wizard, I am insulted by the stereotype."

"Actually, a lot of older wizards still dress like that," Jerry argued, much to Justin's surprise. "Mortal stereotypes of beings like wizards, witches, and vampires usually have some truth to them."

While Justin pouted, Theresa went to her daughter and crouched down so she was eye-level. "Alex, honey, I have some bad news. You remember how Harper was coughing at school today?"

Alex nodded. She remembered that Harper had to go to the nurse to get some cough drops. "Yeah, Mommy. Is she okay?"

"No, sweetie. She has a cold, and her mother just called me to say that Harper can't go out trick-or-treating this year," Theresa answered, a sympathetic frown on her face.

"But her mom was supposed to take us trick-or-treating in her building, while you and Dad took Max to the school Halloween party!" Alex exclaimed, upset. She could feel tears start to well in her eyes, at the thought that her day might be ruined. "What am I going to do? I don't want to go to a stupid party for little kids!"

Theresa gave Alex a comforting hug. "Aw, sweetie, it'll be fun. You can help your dad and I chaperone. And you do go to the same school. Maybe some fifth graders will be there."

"No they won't. They were all making fun of the party at school today," Alex insisted, with a sniff as the first tear fell.

"Wait a minute," Jerry said. He was looking at his oldest son. "Justin, you're not going to your friend's party until later, right? You could take your sister trick-or-treating at Harper's building. It would only have to be for an hour or so."

As Alex expected, her older brother hated the idea. "No, that's not fair!" Justin exclaimed with a glare at his sister. "My Halloween shouldn't be ruined just because her friend is sick!"

"But you're not going until later!" Alex spoke up. True, she wasn't crazy about going trick-or-treating with her brother, but it was better than no candy at all. Besides, now she had to get enough candy for Harper too. She knew how much her best friend looked forward to trick-or-treating every year. "And I need to get candy for Harper! You have to take me!"

Justin's irritated glare deepened as he crossed his arms. "No I don't, especially when you look like that. I don't care if it isn't a stereotype, I still don't like it."

"Like Dad said, it is not a stereotype..." Alex paused as she searched through her weak vocabulary. "What _is_ a stereotype, anyway?"

Before the fight could escalate, Jerry stepped between them. "Hold it you two. Justin, can I talk to you for a second?"

Alex smirked as her father pulled her older brother to the side. A smirk on her face, she thought _Justin's in for it now._ But she became confused when, after her father whispered for a moment, Justin smiled, and eventually nodded in agreement.

They came back after a minute or two. Justin was still smiling. "Alex, I've decided that since I'm your big brother, I'm going to be nice and take you trick-or-treating."

"That's very sweet of you, Justin," Theresa replied, then put a hand on Alex's shoulder. "Now, Alex, what do you say?"

"Thank you, Justin," Alex grumbled. She liked it better when her parents were making her brother take her. Now, since he actually didn't mind, it wasn't any fun

"You're welcome, squirt," Justin teased, which made her glare at him.

Their father reached for the coats, thrown on the couch in anticipation of everyone leaving at once. "Come on, you two," he said. "You can still trick-or-treat in Harper's building like you do every year. I'll drop you off - Max still needs to get into his costume."

Alex ran for the door. "Race you downstairs!" she called. She grinned to herself when Justin whined about her getting a head start. Even if he was older, she would always have the upper hand.

* * *

_Halloween 2009_

As the memory faded, Alex smiled as she absentmindedly unwrapped one of the lollipops. "Yeah, that was a good Halloween."

"For you," Justin retorted.

"You know," Alex remarked. "I never did find out what Dad said to make you take me trick-or-treating. I bugged you about it, but you never told me."

Justin shrugged. "I wanted to, and I was going to. I thought it would've hurt your feelings if you knew, and at that point, I wanted to get back at you for ruining my day. But, as I'm sure you remember, something happened that changed my mind."


	2. Part II

_Halloween 2003_

"Trick or treat!" Justin dutifully chorused with his sister.

This was humiliating. He was twelve-years-old, too old to be doing this. But when his father pulled him aside and gave him the "be a good big brother" speech, what could he do? Well, actually, after that he still tried to get out of it. That was when his father brought up that doing this would show how responsible Justin was, which meant that he wouldn't mind extending Justin's bedtime a half hour.

How could Justin say no to that?

And it would be a great way to get back at Alex later. She wouldn't be happy to know that she's basically the reason he gets to stay up a half hour later, when his bedtime was already later than hers. She also wouldn't like that he was being rewarded for this, period, as she probably thought their father had been threatening to punish him if he didn't go, not bribing him..

Justin could only hope that no one from school lived in this building and would see him. However, he did know that this building was pretty close to Tribeca Prep, his school as of this year, which unfortunately meant that someone he knew _would_ live there. He had this horrifying vision of a classmate opening a door that his sister knocked on.

But it wouldn't be this one. An elderly woman had opened the door, and raised an eyebrow at his sister's costume. "And what are you dressed as, little girl?"

"A wizard," Alex answered proudly. Justin could tell that she was getting a kick out of being able to tell everyone she was a wizard, even if they thought she was just talking about her costume.

The woman seemed confused by Alex's answer. "Don't you mean witch? Girls are witches, and boys are wizards, or warlocks."

"That's not true!" Alex insisted. This wasn't the first time she'd had to defend her costume choice. "Girls can so be wizards!"

Her eyes widened in understanding, the woman gave Alex a placating nod and dropped some candy in Alex's bag. "Yes, girls can be anything that boys can. Good for you."

"No, that's not what I meant..." Alex trailed off, then let out a groan of aggravation and stomped further down the hallway.

Embarrassed, Justin gave the woman an apologetic smile. "Sorry, ma'am. What she meant to say was 'thank you.'"

"Aren't you sweet," the woman said as she put some candy in his bag. "I know who you are. You're Groucho Marx. That's a very convincing mustache."

Justin smiled. "Thank you. Have a happy Halloween." He then ran after his sister, who was almost to the next house. "Did you hear that?" he said as he caught up with her. "_She_ knew what my costume was. So there."

"Oh, yeah, an old lady knew who you were. You really proved me wrong," Alex retorted. She'd been teasing him about his costume, saying that no one would recognize it. By "no one," she meant anyone their age.

She'd unfortunately been right. Any kids they passed teased him for wearing a "stupid" costume. Well, all it showed was how ignorant they were, in Justin's opinion.

They were about to ring the doorbell of the next apartment when Alex froze and looked to her right. Another ten-year-old was coming up the stairs dressed in a princess dress, her brown hair curled, and her bag already full of candy. She was accompanied by an adult and three other kids.

"Gigi," Alex whispered with dread.

"That's Gigi?" Justin whispered back. He'd heard of his sister's arch nemesis many times, but of course never seen her. Even when he used to go to Alex and Max's elementary school, he never paid attention to anyone in younger grades.

Alex nodded, then grabbed his hand and tried to turn around fast enough that Gigi wouldn't recognize her. But unfortunately she wasn't fast enough, and Gigi stopped on the way into the hallway. Each of the side staircases in Harper's building led straight into the corridor, with a window at the landing.

"Oh my gosh, it's Alex Russo!" Gigi exclaimed with clearly false happiness. She then turned to the adult. "Daddy, can you take Nicky to the next apartment? I want to talk with my _friend_ from school."

Her father nodded. "Sure Gigi, don't be too long though." With that, he took who must have been Gigi's younger brother to the next apartment down the hall, which left Gigi, and who were probably two of her girlfriends from school.

Gigi's sickeningly sweet smile abruptly turned to a wicked grin. "Well, well, if it isn't Alex Russo, trick-or-treating all alone with her brother, who probably didn't even want to take her in the first place. After all, who would want to spend Halloween with a loser?" On cue, her cronies laughed hysterically.

"Harper's sick," Alex snapped. "And what I want to know is, who would want to spend Halloween with a nasty princess like you? I'd rather hang out with the frog," she retorted, a reference to the fairy tale.

But Gigi simply laughed again. "Of course you would. You'd have much more in common." Of course that only made the trio erupt in another round of giggles. "Come on girls, let's go get some more candy. Then we can trade later, unlike poor Alex here, who won't have anyone to trade with."

As if in a royal possession, her friends started down the hallway first. He could see that Alex was trying her hardest to hold back tears. She might be a pain in his butt, but she was still his little sister. And no one insulted his little sister like that and got away with it.

In that split second, Justin got an idea. His wand was tucked in his sleeve, a habit he'd developed ever since he got it. Under his breath, he muttered, "No one makes my sister cry, out the window Gigi's candy will fly."

Before Gigi could follow her friends into the hallway, a fierce gust of wind blasted through the landing's already open window. The disturbance made Gigi trip over the back of her dress, which made the bag of candy sailed out of her hand, out the window and onto the street.

All three of them were stunned. Justin was shocked that the spell actually worked. It was the first time he'd made up a spell on the spot. Justin was so happy that he wanted to brag to his father, but he knew his father probably wouldn't like that he'd used his powers on a mortal - a ten-year-old girl mortal, at that - so he'd have to keep this to himself.

"_No_!" Gigi wailed, her cool, intimidating front vanished in an instant. She began to go into a full tantrum, an ugly, outraged look on her face. "_Daddy_!" she screeched as she ran off down the hallway.

Justin and Alex ran into the landing and up the stairs to the next floor to escape Gigi's tantrum. By the time they stopped laughing, Alex had forgotten her tears and was wearing a huge grin. "Looks like I won't be the only one not trading candy tonight," she blurted, unable to hide her happiness. "I have to tell Harper! This will make her feel so much better!"

"I think she's on this floor," Just said as he looked around. He put an arm around her shoulders and began walking. "Come on, squirt, I'll take you there."

_

* * *

__Halloween 2009_

The memory of his first successful spell made Justin reflect. "You know, maybe it wasn't such a bad Halloween after all. Then, I mean. You still ruined this one."

But Alex didn't register the insult. Her lollipop was still in her hand, her jaw partially hanging in surprise. "I can't believe you did that for me," she whispered.

"Oh, wait, you actually thought the wind did it?" Justin replied, his eyes wide as he sat up. He'd always assumed that she knew he'd used magic. "Yeah, that was my spell!"

Alex seemed to contemplate the new information for a moment, then replied, "I guess I should thank you for that." While he wondered what she was up to, she sorted through some candy in the bowl, then handed him a Snickers. "Here."

The sentiment meant more than it appeared. Snickers was the one candy they both liked - salty for Alex, chocolatey sweetness for Justin. They always competed to see who could snag the most of the coveted candy, so Alex's gesture was actually very unusual for her.

A small smile on his face, Justin took the mini chocolate bar and gave her a small nod of acknowledgment. "Thanks, Alex."

* * *

A/N: Happy Halloween everyone! Thanks for reading!


End file.
